How long before you guys started "doing well"

[davidg01234]

Just curious as to how long some of you guys were in business before you started to do good for yourself and got to the point of having jobs every single day, and the phone was always ringing.

 

[WillnDeb]

first year,,what are you doing to stay busy

 

[davidg01234]

first year,,what are you doing to stay busy

im Barely on my 4th month. Im trying to see what kind of advertising works on what doesnt. So far the only thing thats worked best for me is googe adwords. I'm looking into giving Valpak a try though. I've seen a few people on here say its getting there phones ringing. So within the first year your doing just fine? what about first 6 months?

 

[WillnDeb]

I didnt really know what I was doing the first year, its gonna take you that long to figure everything out.

 

[davidg01234]

Ya it seems as so huh? Building a business is a slow process most of the time i guess. .

 

[Ken Raddon]

I am in my 25th year and my phone doesn't always ring. So by that definition I am not yet doing well

 

[davidg01234]

Well you must be doing something right in order to stay afloat for that long!

 

[SunnyDays Carpet Cleaning]

The phone must ring. When I'm not doing well,I stop places and hand out cards or flyers.

 

[Will Reed]

It wasn't until I started advertising in Valpak that I started doing well; which was about 1 year and 3 months after I started. Some users here had good success with VP like me and others haven't.

 

[Harry Mullett]

I didnt really know what I was doing the first year, its gonna take you that long to figure everything out.

You say that like you know what you are doing now - - geesh!

 

[WillnDeb]

You say that like you know what you are doing now - - geesh!

well at least I dont hook my hose to the blower exhaust any more,,,,,,,,,

 

[Harry Mullett]

well at least I dont hook my hose to the blower exhaust any more,,,,,,,,,

Glad to hear that since I passed that new hose on to you. Have you tried it out yet?

 

[AdmiralClean]

Don't get so wrapped up in finding ways to get new customers that you neglect to do those things necessary to keep the ones you already have.

For me, the best single thing I have done was automating my follow up program in Service Monster.

Sure, I could do it myself, but I never actually DID.

 

[WillnDeb]

Glad to hear that since I passed that new hose on to you. Have you tried it out yet?

I havent reeled all the old stuff off yet, if I get the front end done tomorrow I most likely will

 

[matt30577]

8 years. But don't rely on my comment. It took me that long to find TMF, and I wasn't seriously on the web until that time either. I had no knowledge of marketing or business management, so I'm assuming it should've been half that time.

With someone that had Zero resources or experience in building a business, that's normal. For someone who has thousands of resources, you should be making good money in the 3rd or 4th year

 

[StevenB.]

I'm still working on it but the last 2 yrs. have shown significant growth just not as fast as I had hoped.

 

[Todd the Cleaner]

I'm in my 3rd year and finally doing pretty good. Listen to Admirals advise above. Customer retention is the most important thing you can do. Keep in constant contact with prior customers and they will not only use you but refer you to their friends as well. At this point 90% of my customers are repeats and referrals.

 

[StevenB.]

I made some pretty bad decisions early on when I decided to be an owner/operator out in the boondocks where 90% of my customer base were moving into new homes. Heck it was almost a year before I could drop dial up and get broadband...I was too stubborn and arrogant to try a different approach...I should have taken a 15k loan out in late 2004 bought myself a mechanically sound Van and truckmount...I've paid the price with that bad decision. I've accumulated a lot of wisdom along the way. I've resurrected my business by focusing on marketing my customer base instead of outside...it's working.
Restarting with a truckmount wasn't an option...so I bet the farm (all of my savings) that I could market myself better with a new airhog,hoses waterbox hot turbo etc... I can honestly say I'm making a living and it's getting better. I'm hopefully looking to buy a decent truckmount in the near future.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Took me year. When you're not doing jobs, pass out flyers, postcards, drop business cards on everything and everyone you meet. Go door to door, from homes to businesses. Join a networking group, list your business on everything that you can, Advertise on Craigs List it's free.

Every job you do is a paid audition and a potential life customer and referral source. Do your best on all of them. Your business depends on it.

 

[davidg01234]

It wasn't until I started advertising in Valpak that I started doing well; which was about 1 year and 3 months after I started. Some users here had good success with VP like me and others haven't.

Will, your success story is actually what im referring to. So valpak is the majority of your calls?